Fruit Bars Food

FRESH FRUIT BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, combine oranges, banana, apples, raisins, orange juice, and 1 tsp of the ground cinnamon; set aside.
• Beat together margarine, applesauce and brown sugar until creamy. Add flour, oatmeal and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, to the sugar mixture; mix well.
• Measure out 1 1/4 cups of the batter and reserve for topping. Lightly press the remaining oat mixture onto bottom of ungreased 9" x 13" baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
• Remove from oven; spread fruit mixture evenly over crust to within 1/4" of the edges. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over fruit, patting gently. Bake 16-20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Cool completely; cut into bars.
• Store loosely covered.

FRUIT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line an 8 in. (2 L) square pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, blend all the dry ingredients together with fingers. Add mixture to softened butter and continue mixing with fingers until crumbly.
• Spread into the lined baking pan and pat down firmly.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. You will know bars are ready when they are golden brown on the top.
• Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature for 15 minutes. Refrigerate for 15 minutes until it is cold.
• Melt chocolate in microwave and let cool to room temperature.
• Spread onto cold fruit bars with a rubber spatula and return to refrigerator until chocolate is set. Cut into 24 bars.

FRUIT-FILLED OATMEAL BARS

Steps:

• In mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and baking soda.
• Cut in margarine/butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Reserve 1/2 cup of the flour mixture.
• Press remaining flour mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9x9x2 baking pan.
• Spread with desired filling.
• Sprinkle with reserved flour mixture.
• Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden.
• Cool in pan on wire rack.
• Cut into bars.
• FILLING OPTIONS:.
• ***Following cookbook's 'shortcut' suggestion of substituting 10 oz jar of preserves in place of homemade filling, I used a store-bought, very dense, low-moisture apple butter (like a thick jam). I have also tried it with blueberry preserves but the preserves were too moist--it made the bars sticky not good.***.
• RAISIN FILLING:.
• In medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Add 1 cup raisins. Cook & stir until thickened & bubbly.
• APPLE-CINNAMON FILLING:.
• Peel/core/chop 2 medium apples. In medium saucepan, combine apples, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and a dash of ground cloves. Bring apple mixture to a boil; reduce heat & simmer 8-10 minutes or until apples are very tender.
• APRICOT-COCONUT FILLING:.
• In medium saucepan, combine 1 cup diced dried apricots and 3/4 cup water. Bring apricot mixture to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon all purpose flour. Stir into apricot mixture. Cook and stir 1 minute more or until mixture is very thick. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut.

FRUIT COCKTAIL BARS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, beat sugar and eggs until blended. Beat in fruit cocktail and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture until well blended. , Pour into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with coconut and walnuts. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. , In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, butter and milk to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Drizzle over cake. Cool. Cut into bars.

GRANDPA'S FRUIT BARS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the raisins, dates and liqueur. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl, beat together the butter or margarine, the two sugars, the whole egg, the egg white and the vanilla extract until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel, if using, flour and baking soda until thoroughly blended. Add the nuts and the macerated fruit. The dough will be sticky.
• Using well-floured hands or the back of a spoon, press the dough into a foil-lined, 10-by-15-inch jellyroll pan.
• Mix the yolk and the water. Using a pastry brush, brush the dough with the egg wash.
• Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the dough is light golden. Cool 10 minutes, then cut into 1-by-2-inch bars.

FRUIT-OAT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Coat a 10x14-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
• Combine brown sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Mix together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and allspice in a separate bowl. Gradually pour flour mixture into the butter mixture; blend well. Stir in oats and mix with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Press 1/2 of the oat batter firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Spread strawberries and blueberries over the crust and sprinkle with remaining oat batter. Press slightly to flatten batter and fruit. Bake until edges are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan. Cut into 24 bars.

WHOLESOME FRUIT AND PROTEIN BARS

Steps:

• Place peanuts in a food processor; pulse to the consistency of bread crumbs. Add oats; pulse just until mixed. Add raisins and dates and process just until mixed, scraping down sides as needed. Add coconut; process thoroughly until mixture is finely chopped.
• Press mixture into a round glass pie dish; refrigerate until set, 40 minutes to 1 hour. Cut into squares.

FRUIT, OAT & SEED BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Gently heat the sugar, golden syrup and butter in a pan until the sugar and butter have both melted. Stir the oats, raisins, walnuts, seeds and cranberries into the pan until coated in the butter.
• Spoon half the oaty mix into a traybake tin (23 x 23cm or thereabouts). Scatter the apricots over the top, then top with the remaining oat mix. Pack the mix down well and smooth with the back of a metal spoon. Bake for 35 mins or until dark golden. Leave to cool completely before cutting into 16 bars with a sharp knife.

ALMOND FRUIT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolk. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in almonds.
• In a small bowl, whisk jam to loosen. (Stirring the jam with a fork or a whisk will enable it to spread smoothly over the dough.) Gently press half of dough into bottom of prepared dish. With the back of a spoon, gently spread jam over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border so the jam doesn't stick to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle remaining dough over top all the way to the edges; press gently to form top layer.
• Bake until top is golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely in dish. Cut into bars with a serrated knife.